![]() And the warm weather is finally upon us, at least here in Minnesota. The chance to get outside and start on those summer projects that have been burning a hole in our to do list all winter long. For me this is usually the time of year I start thinking about the new picnic table idea or that planter box the wife has wanted, or maybe a fancy new bird house for the back yard, the ideas are always endless. But as the years change so have my interest and motivations, and lately I find myself geared more towards projects with my grandchildren and ways I can have them hands on involved in whatever the project might be. Maybe not so much as to inspire them to be creative or even educate them on how to do something, but more to combine all of this and create something better, a memory. And if they learn something from this memory that's a plus. I can remember being a small child watching my father repair the water pipes in one of the cabins at our resort, I was fascinated at the work he was doing and eventually built up my confidence enough to ask if I could help him. With out hesitation he looked at me with that smile only a father can give and said "yes". Never duriing this time did he tell me not do anything, he just answered my questions, showed me how, and let me have at it. Looking back on this experience as an adult I'm pretty sure I did more harm then good, and I'm also sure that I created a few extra hours of work for him. But to this day I look back on that moment as a great memory, the time I helped Dad fix the plumbing. Now did I actually learn anything, no. Did I actually help him, probably not. But what he did was instill in me a self confidence in my own creativity and my own abilities without really teaching me anything, he just took the time to let me help. And this is the same approach I had with my children and now with my grandchildren. Remember the next time you find yourself in the middle of a project or repair and that little voice watching you says " can I help? " give them the opportunity and hand them a paint brush, or a hammer and let them build. It may not be the next Maloof chair or Stickley dresser, but by letting them help you one day it might be. And if nothing else you will instill self confidence in them and create a moment they will treasure forever. - Tommy P
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![]() Lately in my social media I keep coming across advertisements asking if I have been injured using a table saw and offering to take legal action against the manufacturer on my behalf always containing the same rhetoric, first the infamous picture clearly showing a table saw being used in an unsafe manner, and always followed-up with the question "Have you suffered a sever injure, amputation or death using a table saw?...... We can help" My question is simple, since when did a persons laps of judgement and common sence become the fault of anyone but themselfs. If this truely is how things work then I should be talking to stanley about the time I smashed my thumb while using the hammer they manufactured or maybe the time I cut my finger using the chisel I purchased from them. It's a special person that has this mind set and that person has alot to to do with what is wrong in the world today. Operating a table saw is dangerous, and requires the use of common sence. Common sence to read, learn and understand the safety proceedures to operate the saw correctly and safely. This is information that is readily available in the owners manual and places as obvious as the public libary or even the internet. My thought is simple, if someone is going to operate a table saw with complete disregard for basic safety and understanding of it they are creating a problem. After all I know what open heart surgery is but your not going to see me perform it any time soon. If you don't know, you don't know. Either you learn or your smart enough to not try, anything else is a problem waiting to happen and that problem would be your fault, not the fault of the manufacture of your table saw. Remember be smart, be safe and build something awesome. -Tommy P ![]() What is a woodworker ? This is a question that has recently been presented to me, and as I read though the emails I realize how much the opions on this subject vary. From joinery techniques used to finishing methods applied, even years of experience as a measurement of what seems to be a magical title. For me a woodworker can only be measured by their passion and not defined by age, skill or even the complexity of what they build. For me one of the greatest woodworkers is the child, who glues together popsicle sticks and create something amazing like a new ornament for the Christmas tree, you can see the passion in their face and feel it in their explanation of what they just created. A passion that grows and evolves with age and time to create what ever their imagination drives them to, for me this is a woodworker. I do not feel the road one takes on their journey should define them, but it's the passion that you set forth on this road that will. ![]() I would never say that there is a woodworking project that I regret or do not wish to tackle, the more involved the more excited I get. But when it came to this clock build it was certainly one of my favorite projects as of lately. Over the years I have built a few clocks each one with it's own challanges and beauty and they all share one common personal motivation, my Grandfather. My Grandfather was a pattern maker who had a passion for repairing time pieces, if you lived in the old neighborhood he was the guy you took your watch too when it was in need of repair. He had passed away before I was born but his passion surrounds the family to this day, wheather in his tools or in his work bench that sits in my fathers garage now, his passion is all around me. So I think it is only natural to feel some sort of connection to this passion when I approach building a clock. I find myself wondering what he would think of my latest clock, the advise he would hand down or the praise he might have given me. It is a huge modivation to think about him looking down over my shoulder, but it is also a huge amount of pride to think that I'm building something that will pass on my passion for generations to come, just as his passion has been passed on to me. To view the video of this project : https://youtu.be/z_xQQmuRQyY ![]() My recent project was to replace the broken handle of one of my hand saws. I had borrowed the saw to friend of mine and well, the rest is history. Over the years I have borrowed tools out before without any issue and this is a practice that I will continue, because generally someone asking to borrow certain tools are attempting something for the first time and not having the tool they need prevents them from taking on the task at hand, preventing them from learning this new skill they wish to acquire. I remember as a small child my fathers shop he had and also how amazed I was by even the little things he did with his tools, and always wanting to learn he always had the time to teach me. Whether it was learning how to cut a mortise for a hinge with his chisel or just cutting a board with his hand saw. If he had not allowed me to use his tools these are skills I might not have acquired. But to learn a new skill all that is required is the proper tools and guidance, and for this reason I will continue to borrow tools out and give what ever guidance I can offer. As to my saw, I am very pleased with the final results of the project that was presented to me and honestly the handle that now resides on the saw is much nicer than the one that originally came with it. To view the project : http://youtu.be/jNk3bnUOxfc ![]() With sometime on my hands waiting on parts for my next project I thought I would take a second to reflect on my last project the joiner's mallet, this was built out of a need to replace the one I had recently broke. It was constructed from pine scraps I had laying around the shop at the time, and looking back at this I realize now how bad of a choice it was to constructed a mallet from pine, and to someone who does joinery the issues of this should have been fore seen but this was one of those lessons I learned first hand. With the new mallet I wanted to improve on the short comings of the old one. First there was the choice of stock, with this having been the down fall of the previous mallet I decided to use oak this time a hard, dense wood that will certainly take whatever abuse I could put it through, but not too heavy as to allow for a soft tap to a chisel when needed. My next thought was how could I maximize the impact blow of the mallet, to achieve this I looked at the natural pendulum motion of the mallet when swinging it and quickly realized, if the face of the mallet was at an angle I would achieve a better impact then I would with a square faced mallet and this would also allow for a more comfortable and accurate situation when using it. Next was the handle and for this I used walnut with really only two things in mind, first I wanted the handle to be a little longer then the previous version to allow for a better leverage when swinging, and second was comfort it had to feel comfortable in my hand. With all of my thoughts worked out I was in the shop cutting, shaping and carving then finally finishing it all off with a coat of oil. Since completing the new mallet I have used it several times and I'm very happy with the feel of it, very comfortable to use and more then capable of delivering a hard accurate blow or providing a gentle tap where needed. This was a great project producing a joiner's mallet that I will certainly be using for a long time to come. To check out this project video click this link http://youtu.be/v7KGiVU-38Y With the latest idea in your head you step forth to bring your creation to life. First with sketches on paper then on to the computer to create something more accurate for measurements and cuts, finally with all the details worked out your in the shop, cutting, milling, jointing and pretty soon the finish is applied and your admiring your latest creation. As a content creator the ability to share this with people is what drives me. Being able to share my passion and hopefully inspire someone to create something is my modivation. When I do it is an amazing reward that is fueled by the veiwing audience, in comments and posts or pictures sent in of their lastest project and sometimes just in the form of a like button clicked. After all the editing is completed and the content has been uploaded the veiwing audience becomes engadged. I used to wrap myself up in the analytics at this point, the number of veiws, viewing location, the veiwing devise and so on, but the truth for me comes for the veiwers response to the content. If you have a genuine passion for the content that you are creating the veiwer will procieve
As I sit here working on the finishing touches for my latest project video I look back and reflect on all the great things that 2014 has brought and it has truely been an amazing year, filled with so many things to be thankful for. First there are all the people who subscribe to, follow and share all the content that I produce. You are all amazing and I am blessed to have so much support, thank you all for everything you give and continue to do for me. Then there is the woodworking community, an amazing group of people all bound together by a mutal passion. Sharing ideas or thoughts and always filled with an endless encouragement and support for each other that often over flows outside this community in many diffrent ways but is always amazing, thank you all for the support and allowing me to contribute just a tiny bit to this amazing world.
I'm not sure what the new year will bring for me but I am excited to continue doing what I do and keep created bigger and better content then the last. I hope everyone has a blessed and happy New Years and I look forward to hearing from, working with and seeing you all in the new year. - Tommy P Woodworking is an amazing thing filled with lessons, achievements and memories. I remember watching my father create a mortise for a door hinge, first he scratched out his pattern then with chisel in hand he removed the unwanted material then a test fit of the hinge and like a glove, it fit. I can remember thinking to myself how badly I wanted to be able to do that and after a lot of mistakes, corrections and my fathers patience I did it. To this day this is a memory that I hold close both for that moment with my father and for him giving me a skill that would be the starting point for my future abilities with a chisel. Since then there have been several of these moments and always eager to learn something new he has my full attention. Now a days I find my grandchildren knocking on the door of my shop " Hi Papa what are you doing ?" and before I know it they are in the scrap pile building what ever creation their minds can come up with that day " Papa look what I made " and always eager to encourage I let them know that it is amazing and ask them all about their project of that day with a genuine interest, just as my father had always done with me. Woodworking is an amazing gift that needs to be passed down through the generations and all it takes is a few minutes out of your own project, a little encouragement and something amazing is started. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying this will create the next great furniture builder or even master craftsman, but the next time that smiling little face asks you what your doing in the middle of your next big project give them a hammer, because if they do nothing more then bang on a couple of scraps of wood in the middle of the floor all day in their mind that just created a master piece and they did this with you, that memory will stay with them for a life time and that encouragement and genuine interest in it will give them the belief with in them selves that they can do it, and that will take help bring woodworking to the next generation.
- Tommy P Recently I was put in a situation that forced me to step back from my woodworking and rebuild, while both enjoying and being frustrated with this chain of events it gave me a lot of time to focus on the direction I have been taking with my woodworking, what really matters to me and what message I want to relay to my viewers. When I think of the guys that I enjoyed to watch and still watch names like Norm Abrams, Roy Underhill, David Marks, Tommy Macdonald and Marc Spagnuolo are just a few that come to mind and it's not because of fancy camera angles, good music or the less than ten minute video it's because I know that when I get done watching their show I will walk away with an education of how to do it, why to do it and the best way to do it, it being that weeks project. I feel it's really a matter of entertainer or woodworker. To be an entertainer is to entertain the masses, interesting camera angles, fancy video editing, catchy music, easy project then screw it and glue it together and edit the video down to as short a time frame as possible as to not loose your viewer. To be a woodworker the focus is education of the project, the wood, the joinery, the technique, the attention to detail, the finish then editing the video not for time but for content, because if your like me I will watch someone like Frank Klausz explain how he creates a dovetailed cabinet forever but I loose interest very quickly watching a ten minute video of how to build a screwed together cabinet buried in fancy editing and catchy music, entertainment versus woodworking. I am not an entertainer nor is this something I wish to be, I am a woodworker and that is all I wish to be. I'm not out to capture a viewing audience of hundreds of people with my video editing skills and fancy camera shots, but if I can show one person how to create a mortis and tenon joint I'm pretty happy with that.
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April 2016
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